There's a filipino word, "ngalay", which translates to "numbness". It occurs when a body part gets stuck in a position for a very long time that it almost feels like it hardened already. The same can be said of most people's faith nowadays.
Maybe it's because of the pandemic, and everything has been online for more or less two years that people have become used to their "online church". But everything has practically opened up, and statistics do show that things have pretty much been back to normal. So why are churches and prayer meetings not filling up?
Cardinals, bishops and priests have been calling the faithful to go back to the pews. Religious communities have been asking their members to attend face-to-face. Yet a big number of people remain in their couches or beds for religious activities, while readily going out without fear and discomfort when going to malls or other public places.
Fear of covid is hardly the reason for the poor attendance, as the same people have no qualms going out on a gallavanting spree even with people they hardly ever met. At one point, one may say it's probably because they don't know the difference between online and face-to-face, but I'm sure they know online dates are way different than actually being with each other. E-numan (or people drinking together via video conferencing) will never be the same as sharing drinks and grub at the same table. Our greatest feast in the Eucharist will never be the same in youtube or facebook!
So maybe it is ngalay! People have become numb to their faith, downgrading it significantly as lesser priority over many other things. Yes, they will still declare God as their top love, but they can't be bothered to make the effort to stand up, fix themselves, and go to Church.
It is said that a sign of life is growth. If you're not moving up, you're already dying. Maybe it is just ngalay, and not death. But if we get too used to not moving, we're as good as dead. When our love for God doesn't move us to make an effort for Him, maybe our love for God is dead, transformed to a fake one without us even noticing.
The cure to ngalay is to start moving. The sign of love is joyful sacrifice. But all of this is not up to God... Does the person want the cure? Does the person still love God?
Where does God want you to go? Stop making excuses and go already!
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